The Other Side of the Ocean
by welsh-petal-rose
Summary: Chloe and Beca have moved to the UK for Post-grad studies. Their new housemates are set to become friends for life but things are not going to run smoothly. Will involve emotional abuse and mental health issues.
1. Somerset and Wales

**This is a new venture for me. I really wanted to see Chloe and Beca in the UK so i thought i'd write this. I then realised how difficult it is to write American characters when you have no idea about American culture! So thanks to KissKendrick who has been answering my questions for me ! This is very much a setting the scene chapter.**

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'Well here it is!' said Chloe as she stepped out of the taxi, staring up at the house that they had last seen in an online advert. Beca finalised the payment with the taxi driver before giving a tip, to which the driver looked a little confused by. She hopped out pulling her suitcase with her. The house they stood infront of was a terrace with bay windows, a small neat front garden and compared to some of the others in the road, looked well kept. Chloe wore a wide grin on her face, Beca looked a little more uneasy. Here she was in a foreign country, about to meet her new housemates and the only familiar thing was her best friend who was standing next to her with a cheesy grin on her face. Beca was becoming increasingly self-aware about the fact that Chloe had been staring at this house for a while and seemed to be making no attempt to move onto the next step of ringing the doorbell. She sighed, stepped forward and pressed the bell.

'Jeez, Chlo, have you turned to stone?'

Chloe looked at Beca with a confused look on her face and was just about to open her mouth when the door opened.

'Hi' smiled the young woman who opened the door, 'you must be Beca and Chloe.'

'Yep, i'm Beca, and this is Chloe.'

'Come on in! I'm Carrie.' She stepped back away from the door ushering them inside. Beca and Chloe then noticed another girl hovering in the hallway. She smiled shyly and gave a quick wave before realising how stupid it was and quickly lowered her hand. 'I'm Hannah.'

Both Chloe and Beca smiled politely back. They dragged their suitcases into the hallway. It was all they had been able to bring with them on the plane. It would be another few days before the rest of their possessions would reach them, despite the fact that they'd packed everything up weeks before they'd left. The journey to this point had been long. They had left America 2 weeks before and had spent a couple of weeks living in a cheap hotel in London. There they had acclimatised to the British time zone and spent a while doing all the tourist things that they'd never had a chance to do before. Chloe loved shopping in oxford street and the nightlife wheras Beca had preferred spending hours relaxing in Hyde park. Now they were stood on the other side of the country in Plymouth.

'Leave the cases there for a bit, come and have a drink then we'll show you the house.' Carrie bounced past them heading for the kitchen. 'Come on!' She shouted when she realised they weren't immediately behind her. Chloe's grin got even wider and dragged Beca with her following Carrie with almost as much enthusiasm as her. Hannah let out a small giggle and rolled her eyes, catching Becas gaze. Beca returned the giggle. Her initial wariness had been displaced and instead she found herself relax.

'So what do you want to drink? We've got tea, coffee, squash, alcohol... ' she trailed off as she searched through the cupboards.

'Can I have some water?' asked Chloe.

'Me too.' said Beca. Their experience of British drinks so far was varied at best and so they thought it best to stick to something that they couldn't go wrong with.

'Sure,' Carrie replied, 'Hannah?'

'umm apple and blackcurrant please.'

Once everyone was sorted for drinks, Carrie jumped up onto the worksurface, as Hannah, Beca and Chloe took seats at the table. 'So tell us about yourselves.'

'I'm Chloe Beale. We went to Barden university. I love acapella singing and dancing. Moved here to get a change of scene i guess.' Chloe didn't really know what else to say. she looked across at Beca.

'Yeah like Chloe said we went to university together and now we've moved here. I'm really into music.'

'I'm Carrie, well technically Cariad. I like going out and cooking. I'm from Wales. I went to Uni here.'

'And I'm Hannah. I'm from Somerset. The same as Carrie, I went to uni here, we met in our final year. And i spose I like art and stuff...' she trailed off trying to think of something she liked. She could feel everyones eyes on her. Trying to get out of the spotlight she searched her mind for something to say. 'Why don't I show you the house?'

'Sure'. Chloe stood up. The smile that had been on her face from the moment she set eyes on the house was still a permanent fixture. Hannah lead the way out of the kitchen. They walked past what seemed to be a small cupboard underneath the stairs which turned out to be a downstairs shower. Opposite it was Carries bedroom, then at the front of the house off the hallway was the lounge.

Hannah lead them up the stairs to a half-landing where her room was, then up another few steps to another 3 doors. One contained the bathroom and the other 2 were big bedrooms. They both had double beds and desks but were pretty much empty otherwise. they were in looks basically the same, only one looked out over the street infront of the house and down the hill, and the other out over the back garden.

'You can chose which one you'd like,' explained Carrie. Beca moved into the front bedroom and stared out of the window at the view. The sun was just beginning to set and she could just about see the sea behind the rows of houses. Chloe noticed her tranquil gaze and indicated to the other room. 'I'll have this one, if that's ok Beca?' Beca smiled at Chloe and nodded.


	2. Pizza and Scrumpy

**Just another light hearted chapter, I just had to introduce scrumpy at some point. You've still got rugby to go though (probably this weekend if my team win the play-offs!) It will turn quite dark at some points but it's no where near there yet =] Enjoy (preferably with a glass of cider in hand)**

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Soon afterwards Carrie and Hannah helped lug Beca and Chloes suitcases to their rooms. As they were unpacking Hannah disappeared to her room. She returned a few minutes later with some spare pillows and a couple of single duvets. She smiled shyly as she handed them to Beca and Chloe.

'I'm afraid they're only singles but will they be ok until your stuff gets here?'

Beca smiled and gratefully took 2 pillows and a duvet. 'Thanks Hannah.'

Chloe pretty much crushed Hannah in a hug before she took the remaining pillows and duvet. She was so taken by surprise that she let out a little yelp.

'Chloe, don't crush her on our first day!' Beca intervened knowing how overbearing Chloe could be at times.

As she pulled out of the hug (somewhat reluctantly) Chloe asked 'Where did you get them from?'

'We had them from our first year in halls and when we moved into this house a few years ago we kept them for when our friends would sleep over on the sofa.' Carrie replied. 'We knew your stuff wouldn't be here yet and we doubted you'd have room for a duvet and pillow in your suitcases so we got them ready for you.'

Carrie walked into Becas room and flopped down onto the bed. 'I'm shattered!' she announced. Beca who was already sat on the bed leant back against the headboard. 'Me too,' she agreed. Chloe and Hannah joined them. They all lay in the fading light staring up at the ceiling. Although the pairs had only known each other for a few hours they were already getting comfortable in each others company.

The silence was interrupted by a loud rumbling. They all turned to look at Carrie who blushed.

'Sorry...' she said sheepishly. 'Can we order food now Hannah?'

'I said to wait until we had met you and asked what you like before we ordered.' She explained to Chloe and Beca. 'She would've ordered several hours before you arrived otherwise and there would've been none left for you.'

'So, what do you guys like? Indian, Chinese, Pizza...?' she trailed off at pizza when she saw their eyes light up. 'Come on then, I'll order it.' She left the room with Hannah in tow and headed downstairs to her room.

Alone in Becas room for the first time since they had entered the house, Chloe looked across at Beca. 'Do you think things will be ok now?'

Beca knew exactly what she meant. 'Yeah. I'm hundreds of miles away. Plus I think we may have made 2 friends already.' She smiled across at her redhead friend. 'Come on' she swung her legs off the bed.

As they reached Carries room, they could hear a frustrated Carrie having a heated debate with Hannah.

'It has to be Pizza Hut! They are closer!'

'But Dominos is so much nicer,' Hannah's quieter and calmer voice replied. 'And what does it matter if they're closer? It's being delivered!'

'I'm hungry! It will get here quicker.'

After a short debate (Hannah gave in) they ordered the pizzas and sat around in the living room eating them with the tv on in the background. Soon Carrie started to pour everyone drinks. Hannah stuck to the cider, she'd had one too many bad experiences with mixing drinks as an undergrad to try anything that Carrie made. Beca and Chloe stuck to the wine which Carrie was also drinking.

'Ooooh, turn it up! This is my favourite bit!' Carrie reached across Hannah to grab the remote. They all turned their attention to the tv which was showing Graham Norton. They'd just got to the red-chair section. 'Have you seen this before?' Carrie asked glancing sideways at the Americans.

The shook their heads and watched intently. It wasn't long before the lever was pulled and the poor person was thrown backwards. Everyone erupted into giggles apart from Carrie who was laughing so hysterically she was snorting.

Her laughing caused a wave which just made everyone laugh even harder. It got to the point when they were just laughing at laughing.

'Well that was exhausting' Beca said once everything had calmed down a bit.

Hannah reached for her huge container of cider which she had brought from her home county down to Plymouth with her. 'Could I try some?' Beca asked. She didn't know much about cider. she imagined it to be just slightly alcoholic apple juice, it certainly looked like apple juice, it was cloudy and she was sure she had seen something floating around in it.

'Of course.' Hannah picked up a new glass and poured a little into it. 'Careful, it's quite strong.' she said as she passed it over.

Carrie just shuddered as Beca took a sip. She couldn't cope with 'proper scrumpy' as Hannah called it and now could only just stomach the more mainstream ciders which were clearer and definitely did not have anything floating in them. Chloe caught Carries reaction and decided that scrumpy was something she'd try on another day.

The girls sat around laughing, giggle, drinking and singing until the early hours. Luckily for them they were surrounded by student houses so Carries and Hannahs 3am rendition of Buck Rodgers (a song Hannah loved and Carrie had grown to love after sharing for 2 years) was disturbing no-one. By the second verse Beca and Chloe were up dancing with them as they belted out the lyrics,

 _Get a house in Devon,_  
 _Drink cider from a lemon, lemon, lemon, lemon..._

Eventually Hannah began to drift asleep as the music and singing began to die down. Carrie padded over to the sofa where she was beginning to lean against the arm, her eyes slipping shut. 'Hannah, time for bed.' She gently pulled the sleepy girl upright and walked with her to her room. Beca and Chloe decided to call it a night also and made their way up the stairs. They stood in the doorway of Hannahs room as they watched Carrie gently persuade Hannah to sleep on her bed not in the chair where she had slumped.

'Thanks for a brilliant night' Chloe said quietly but enthusiastically. Beca nodded in agreement.

'It's been great'

Carrie walked over to where Chloe and Beca stood and gave them both a big hug. 'I think we're going to be really great friends' she said. Suddenly the three were knocked backwards slightly by a slightly drunk Hannah who engulfed them in an even bigger hug.

'Me too!' she giggled.


	3. Water and Pancakes

**Once again another scene setting chapter. I was planning on lumping this and the next one together but it was getting so long I left it here. I know the ending of this chapter is rubbish but meh.**

 ***Edited and reuploaded due to a major typo (This laptop seems to wipe out half of my sentences sometimes...)**

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'Urghhh' groaned Beca as she drifted awake. Her head was hurting the way it did when she'd had one drink over her limit, but she hadn't had that much to drink last night.

'Scrumpy...' She murmured as she summoned the energy to get out from under the tangled mess of a duvet. Her mouth was dry and she longed for a glass of water. She could hear the floorboards in the room underneath hers creak as someone was moving around downstairs. It wouldn't be Chloe, she never got up this early. Even with the time difference she quickly got her body clock set back in her old habit. And with how Hannah was last night it was unlikely to be her moving around.

Beca creeped past both Chloes and Hannahs doors on her way past down the stairs. She was happy that Carrie would be up so she could ask for a glass to borrow. She'd have to make a trip to the shops for food and other essentials that morning, preferably before Chloe got up. She knew how grumpy Chloe could be on an empty stomach.

The lounge door was pushed to, but she could still hear the footsteps behind it. Gently she swung it open.

'Oh! ' She exclaimed, then remembered that if Hannah was stood infront of her then Carrie must still be asleep in her room. She lowered her voice, 'I was, err, expecting you to be Carrie!'

'Nah, she never gets up early. And don't worry, she'd sleep through a bulldozer.'

'Do you have a glass i can borrow? I need some water.' She still spoke quietly, despite Hannah's reassurance.'

'Sure, I'll show you where they are. ' Hannah picked up the last of the bottles and glasses and lead Beca to the kitchen. She put the glasses on the side for washing up and the bottles into a green plastic box.

'In this cupboard,' She said opening the top one to the right of the sink, ' has all the house mugs, glasses and plates. Feel free to use them whenever.'

Beca thanked her and filled the glass up from the tap. As she turned around she caught sight of the table. Wheras the day before it had been empty, now there was jars and bottles and plates spread out across it. She took a closer look and registered lemon juice, sugar, golden syrup, nutella and a variety of fruit.

'I'm planning on pancakes for breakfast. I could make you some now if you would like, or we could wait...' She trailed off again. Without Carrie around to take some of the attention, Beca realised how shy she was.

'I can wait.' She smiled at Hannah. She indicated to the table. 'Do you do this everyday?'

'No, but I thought that since you and Chloe don't have any food yet, I couldn't let you go out on an empty stomach. But I do every now and then. Especially the night after we've been drinking.'

'Yeah, how come you are up so early? You were nearly out of it when we put you to bed!' Beca thought back to the previous night and how surprised she'd been that it wasn't Carrie in the living room.

'Oh I wasn't drunk.' Beca raised an eyebrow. 'No, seriously I wasn't. Alcohol just makes me sleepy. But I don't get hangovers anyway, which is a bonus.' She added the last bit in a hurry.

Beca frowned and opened her mouth, about to speak when she was interrupted by a loud crash. They both legged it out of the kitchen and had started climbing the stairs when Chloe emerged from her bedroom, her face almost as red as her hair.

'I tripped over my suitcase... Sorry. Did I wake anyone? Oh I am so sorry, I didn't want to wake anyone!' She took in their frantic faces and the worry etched in their expression. The both relaxed when she explained what had happened.

'Nah, we were up.' Beca said. 'Carrie is still in bed though.'

Chloe's face turned back to worry. 'Oh my gosh, she's right under my room. She must have been woken by that.'

Hannah had already started to descend the stairs. 'It's alright, don't worry Chloe. It's time she woke up anyway. She's got the freshers fair today.'

As she reached Carries door she knocked and waited for a couple of seconds. She wasn't expecting a reply but she always knocked, she did not want any embarrassing encounters. She gently opened the door and poked her head around the frame. She let out a laugh with the sight which met her eyes. She pushed the door further open and indicated to Beca and Chloe that they should look.

'Like I said, she'll sleep through a bulldozer.'

Carrie was sprawled out across the bed, her light blonde hair spread out in all directions. Her arms above her head which wasn't even remotely near, let alone on the pillow and the duvet half on the floor.

Hannah walked over to the sleeping beauty and gently shook her shoulder. 'Come on Carrie, time to get up.' She sighed when she got no reaction but she knew a trick which would definitely get her up. She picked up a lock of Carries hair and gently brushed it across her face. Immediately Carrie arms starting flailing and swatting at her face. Her eyes suddenly jerked open.

'That's not nice.' She grumbled as she stretched.

Hannah was more than used to Carries morning attitude and just walked out of her room calling 'Get up, I'm making pancakes.'

Beca and Chloe sat at the table while Hannah turned on the hob. As she was waiting for it to heat up she checked on the batter that she had made up first thing and searched for a ladle. Carrie shuffled in after a few minutes tying her big fluffy dressing gown around her. She was still grumbling about her rude awakening. 'Some people get woken by a cwtch, others by a gentle shake. Me, I get attacked by my own hair.'

Hannah was too busy to notice, or she would have pointed out that she had tried the gentle option first. She took a ladle of the batter and poured it into the pan. She quickly swirled it around before leaving the heat to do it's job. After a minute or too she checked the underside with a spatula then quickly flipped it over to cook the top. When it was ready she took the pan to the table.

'Who wants the first one?'

Chloe answered quickly, 'Carrie.' Even though she hadn't woken her up she still felt guilt that she could've. Plus she wasn't quite sure how you were expected to eat these pancakes. They looked like crepes and the array of toppings on the table meant she had no idea where to start. Hannah shrugged and slid the pancake onto Carries plate. She returned to the stove to start the process again.

Carrie yawned and reached for the nutella. She spread a thin layer across the top and then rolled it up.

As each pancake was cooked they ate and prepared theirs and by the time they had finished another one was ready. Chloe and Beca followed Carries suit and had nutella on their first pancake. Hannah instead sprinkled lemon juice and a little bit of sugar over hers before rolling it up.

'So what do you do with the toppings?' Chloe asked after being given her second.

'You just try whatever you want, in whatever combination you want. You'll soon work out what you like. '

Chloe frowned and then decided on some blueberries and golden syrup.

Carrie looked across to Beca and saw that she was just about to flip the pancake over with the spatula. 'That's cheating! Do it properly!'

'I don't want a repeat of last pancake day Carrie.' Hannah slide the spatula under the pancake and in one swift movement turned it over. 'Plus it's not Shrove Tuesday.'

'So, what are your plans for today?' Carrie asked to Beca and Chloe since Hannah had turned her back and was clearly not in the mood to argue.

'Shopping,' Beca replied. 'We need some essentials.' Chloe rolled her eyes.

'Yeah, but we are going to go exploring on the way.' Chloe looked purposely at Beca. She loved shopping but buying boring things was not what she wanted to spend the day doing.

'You should have a look around the campus. You'll have to walk past it to get to town anyway and the freshers fair is on. I'm going to be there with the rugby team so i'll show you the way if you want.' Carrie gave a big smile. 'You can sign up for the rugby team!'

Hannah gave a sigh as she brought her last pancake over to the table.

'I'd advise against that if I were you.' she said as she slid into the empty chair.

'Why?' said Chloe. She had no idea what rugby was but if Carrie played it then she thought that maybe she could.

Hannah looked across at Chloe. 'Oh you'll see soon enough when you get to the freshers fair.'

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 **Ok, next chapter involves describing Plymouth but also there will be a nice section with Beca and Chloe on their own. The chapter after will start the dark stuff.**


	4. Sun and Lighthouses

It was the first time Chloe and Beca had walked around plymouth. They'd had a quick look on a map for how to get to the centre and of course the university campus, but they were glad that Carrie was joining them. They headed past rows upon rows of victorian houses and up a steep hill. Despite Chloe and Beca's fitness level being of a pretty high standard they found their legs aching and the heat (which Carrie assured them wouldn't last so enjoy it while you can) made them breathless as they reached the summit. But it was worth it. Carrie had explained earlier that there was another route which skirted around the top of the hill about 2/3 of the way up but on a nice day the view over the city and towards the sea was worth the extra climb. Plus, as she pointed out, the rest of the walk is downhill.

Chloe and Beca stood looking over the city. The sun was glistening off the buildings and the bright blue sky met the dark water of the ocean in the distance. Carrie pointed out a few buildings over to their right. There was one which was a converted church but maintained the steeple and stained glass window and another more modern building with purple coloured sections and hundred of panes of glass. These were all part of the university campus.

The three headed down the road and a few minutes later were arriving into the heart of the campus. It was busy with people handing out leaflets everywhere and music playing. The freshers fayre was in full swing and with the weather being so lovely everyone was making the most of it.

Carrie headed over towards a marquee which was crowded to bursting and squeezed her way in past all the 18 year olds who were looking around at all of the stands who were encouraging them to become members. Chloe and Beca followed her over to a rowdy corner of the tent. The table infront of them said that they belonged to the UPLRFC. Despite being a post-grad student now, she was still allowed to be a member of the club but wasn't allowed to play in any of the fixtures but this didn't bother Carrie; it was the social side she was in the club for.

'Carrie!' Squealed one of the girls behind the desk. 'You're back! How was home?'

'Good thanks. We need to have a catch up.' Carrie then put her arms around her new housemates. 'This is Beca,' she said with a nod to the right, 'and Chloe.' She looked at Beca then Chloe and saw that their eyes were glued to the screen behind her friend which was showing the final match of the previous year. Beca was doing well to hide her shock at how brutal the game was but Chloe stared with her jaw dropped. Carrie knew at this point that there was no chance that they would be joining her team.

'Ok, why don't you guys go around the rest of the fayre, you might find something you like.' Carrie gave them both a squeeze before dropping her arms from around their shoulders.

'Umm yeah.' Beca saw that Chloe still hadn't moved. 'We'll see you back at the house later. C'mon Chlo.' She gently pushed her friend away from the position she was stood in and the pair were quickly engulfed into the crowd.

A few hours later Chloe and Beca were lying on some grass next to a red and white lighthouse. The sea stretched out infront of them with boats of all sizes from yaughts to huge ferrys and Navy warships were bobbing along. At the freshers fayre they had found a choir which Chloe had joined up for. Beca had decided against joining any societies or sports teams. Despite her time in the Bellas, she still preferred her own company and actively socialising with people she didn't know did not appeal. They had spent a while shopping and taken a taxi back to the house around lunchtime. Now they were stocked up on food and other essentials they felt as though they could enjoy the afternoon. The weather was so good they decided to walk back into the town to see the Hoe. Hannah and Carrie had described the Hoe as one of the best bits of Plymouth. They weren't dissapointed.

The sun was beating down on their bodies. Both were dressed in shorts and t-shirts.

'Well I didn't think we'd come to England and get a tan!' Chloe said breaking the silence.

Beca didn't reply, so Chloe turned her head to look over to her. Beca was completely oblivious to Chloe watching, lost in thought. She was biting the corner of her lip, a sign Chloe knew well.

'Hey, whats up?'

'Nothing.'

'You're thinking.'

'No, i'm... well...' Beca sighed. She turned her head towards Chloe. 'It's so great here.' she sounded almost sad about this.

'And?' Chloe knew there was more.

'Things could've been so different. I could've been in LA with him. But here is so great.'

'But you would've still been unhappy Becs. You could have had the best job in the world but what's the point if you are unhappy?'

'I know.'

Chloe reached over and took Becas hand. She smiled sweetly at her best friend. They lay for a while before Beca got out her phone and switched on the camera. She pointed it at the redhead.

'For Aubrey. To make her jealous.' Chloe giggled and swished her hair over her shoulder. The lighthouse behind her made for a picturesque background. Beca quickly snapped the image and then Chloe dragged her towards her.

'You need to be in it as well!' They both smiled as Chloe grabbed the phone and helf it at arms length infront of her. The image captured the beautiful surroundings and both the girls happiness at new beginnings.


	5. Ages and Moonlight

**The first paragraph is rubbish.. sorry. But please review. Only 2 lonely reviews so far both by vahuene (thanks =])**

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A few days later and the four housemates were getting on so well that an outsider would've thought they'd lived together for years. They had got used to each others routines; Hannah was always up at the crack of dawn, but last to bed, Beca woke not long after but would normally be in bed first. Chloe and Carrie both would sleep late into the morning, something they decided was due to them being the oldest. Hannah pointed out that Beca at 23 was actually older than Carrie, 22. Chloe was easily the oldest at 25 and found it pretty unnerving that most of her course was 21 like Hannah. This was something that Hannah explained to the Americans was due to their undergraduate degree courses being 3 years and more specialised than the 4 year courses in America. All four had had their introductory lectures on their course but were lucky that they wouldn't have any work set until the term commenced properly the week later.

It was the Wednesday night and Chloe woke, disturbed by a seagull. She was beginning to hate those things. She reached over for her glass of water on the chest of drawers next to her bed. She took a few sips, then drained the small amount left in the glass. She sighed, debating in her mind the pros and cons of going downstairs in the cold to top it up in the kitchen versus staying in bed. She looked across at her clock. 02:04. She would be in bed for another 8 hours or so. Deciding that she was more than likely going to wake again if the stupid seagull stayed around, she swung her legs out of the bed. She quietly reached for the latch and opened her door and tiptoed down the stairs.

As Chloe walked past Hannahs room she could hear her talking. She paused automatically and she realised that the words were not forming coherent phrases. She smiled as she realised that she must be talking in her sleep. As she was about to put her foot onto the next step however Hannah said something much louder and clearer.

'Please, let me go.'

Chloe hesitated. Part of her wanted to go and check that Hannah was ok, but she also realised that she was probably just dreaming. She shook her head and decided to leave Hannah to sleep, but once again as she went to take a step she heard Hannah. This time it sounded like a sob.

She turned around and softly walked over to the door. As she got closer she could hear the girls laboured breathing, it sounded as though she was running whilst crying. She gently knocked, waited a few seconds then pushed the door open quietly. Hannahs curtains were open and the moonlight flooded the room. Chloe looked immediately towards the bed where the girl was tangled in her duvet. She was clearly having a bad dream. Sweat was glistening on her face in the moonlight and she was shaking like a leaf. She let out another shakey breath and another sob escaped. Her hands clutched at her hair and she seemed to be trying to curl herself into a ball, but the duvet which was wrapped around her was stopping her.

She walked over to the bed, setting her glass on Hannahs bedside table. Chloe gently put her hands ontop of Hannahs. 'Hannah, wake up,' she spoke softly to not startle the girl. Hannah's shaking ceased the moment Chloes hands made contact with hers, but she didn't make any sign of waking. Chloe gentle stroked Hannahs hands and moved her hair away from her face. She tried to untangle Hannahs hands from her hair that she was still clutching with white knuckles.

'Hannah, it's just a dream. Wake up for me.' Chloe continued to attempt to calm Hannahs erratic breathing. She was beginning to get worried as Hannah's breathing got worse and she moved her hands to her shoulders and tried to be more forceful to wake her up.

Just as soon as Chloe had grabbed Hannahs shoulders she took a loud gasp and sat bolt upright, her eyes shot open. Chloe took a step back in surprise. She was quickly over the shock however and soon returned to being directly infront of Hannah.

'Hey, it's me. You had a bad dream.' She relaxed as she saw the panic begin to fade from Hannahs face as her breathing returned to normal.

Hannah nodded in response. 'I know,' she whispered. Chloe wasn't sure which bit she was agreeing to. 'I'm sorry.'

Chloe frowned. 'You don't have to be sorry.' She sat down next to Hannah and pulled her into a hug. 'Do you want to talk about it?'

Hannah shook her head. She was looking down avoiding Chloes eyes. 'Sorry' she mumbled again. She felt so embarrassed. All she wanted was for Chloe to go to bed so that she could get some sleep while everyone else slept.

In the pale light it was difficult for Chloe to read Hannahs face but she was worried about how she was reacting. This clearly wasn't her first bad dream and the way she was avoiding her eyes told Chloe there was more to it that just nightmares.

'Do you want me to stay?' She hoped that she would say yes. She didn't know why but she suddenly felt so protective of the girl. Maybe it was because she was a few years younger. It wasn't unusual for her to be concerned, but she had only known Hannah for a few days and except the first night when she had been drinking, it was normally Hannah looking after them. Cooking, showing them where everything was, helping them to adjust.

'I'll be fine,' came the quiet reply. 'Thank you.'

'Sure?' Chloe didn't want to push the girl and she could see how tired she was. Hannahs nod in reply confirmed her response and Chloe left it at that. She gave the girl another quick hug before standing up and picking up her glass.

'Do you want anything?' She waved her glass, indicating that she was going down to the kitchen. Hannah shook her head and lay back onto her pillows.

'Ok, goodnight.' Chloe looked back as she walked out of the room. Hannah had drawn her legs up and was curled into a ball. She looked so small. Making a note to try and get her to talk about it in the morning she left Hannah to sleep.

On her return trip from the kitchen she slowed as she passed Hannahs door. She couldn't hear anything and so carried on up to her room and climbed into bed.

Unbeknownst to her, Hannah lay listening to her footsteps travel around the house. She heard them pause outside her door before continuing up the stairs. She let out the breath she had been holding as she heard the door close.

'You stupid girl.' She muttered angrily to herself as she turned over. 'You stupid, stupid girl.'


	6. Boxes and Mixes

Thank you Des771, I haven't written a peice of fiction since GCSE's when i was 16! The last 6 years were spent mainly writing essays. More reviews will be very much appreciated. Also any volunteers to answer some questions on american culture/british culture in america will be gratefully received.

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Chloe woke up as her mobile beeped into life. She quickly picked it up and slid the alarm to 'off'. She smiled glancing at the message on the alarm reminding her that their possessions from America would finally be reaching them. She thought back to the night before and decided to see if Hannah was awake yet.

She walked past Hannahs door which was closed and down to the kitchen. Hannah was no-where to be seen. She didn't want to risk knocking on her door incase she was still asleep, but then she remembered that she didn't close the door when she left the room the night before, she had only pulled the door to. Hanah must have already woken, she thought. There seemed to be an unspoken rule in the house that if the door was completely closed then they didn't want to be disturbed or they were out. If the door was pulled to but not closed then you knocked, and if it was open then it was an invitation to walk straight in.

Chloe went back upstairs with her breakfast. Hannahs door was still shut, but Becas was now open and could be heard in the shower.

When Beca came out of the shower she looked in on Chloes room as her door was wide open.

'Hey,' she said as she leaned against the wall. Her wet hair was trailed down her back and she could feel the coolness of it through her t-shirt. Chloe was stood in the middle of her room with clothes scattered around her.

'Hi,' She smiled brightly back despite her lack of sleep the night before. 'I can't wait for my clothes to get here, I'm bored of all these now!' She gestured to the trousers and tops covering her floor and bed.

'It's only a few more hours now.' Beca reminded her. 'When did you wake up anyway, it's pretty early for you.'

'Only about 20 minutes ago, I set an alarm. What about you?'

'About an hour ago I spose. I heard Hannah leave about 6 though.'

'Oh.' Beca caught the expression on her best friends face.

'What?'

'Oh, nothing...' Chloe trailed off. She picked up a top and a pair of jeans from the floor. 'I'm gonna have a shower. ' She took a few steps towards the door when Becas hand on her arm stopped her. She turned and looked into Becas eyes. 'What?'

'Is everything ok?'

Chloe tried to plaster a smile onto her face but she knew that Beca would see right through her facade. All she could do was hope that Beca would leave it. What had happened the night before was playing on her mind and Hannah leaving at 6 was early even for her.

'I'm fine.' She said truthfully. It's Hannah who isn't, she thought.

'Okay...' Luckily for Chloe, Beca decided that Chloe would talk to her if she needed to. 'The shipping company should be here in 2 hours i think.' Beca said changing the subject as she walked into her bedroom. 'Carrie and Hannah said they'd be here to help unpack stuff.'

'Ok.' Chloe hoped that she could pin Hannah down then, but for now she needed a shower.

Dead on 11 o'clock the lorry arrived. It reversed down the small steep road and Chloe was instantly on her feet the second it blocked the light into the living room. She threw open the door before the driver had had a change to get out of the cab.

Carrie, Beca, Chloe and Hannah (who had only reappeared 5 minutes before the van arrived) formed a chain and moved all the boxes into the living room.

'How much did you bring with you?!' Carrie puffed as she took another huge box from the driver and passed it to Chloe. Despite her rugby training she was struggling with the boxes so she had no clue how Beca and Hannah, who were both a lot smaller than her, were coping inside the house.

'This is nothing believe me. This was all we could afford.' Chloe said. She turned to the delivery driver, 'Is that it? I think I counted 10 boxes' The delivery driver nodded and Chloe walked over to sort out the paperwork. 'Can you get Beca please? I think she needs to sign for her boxes.'

'Sure,' Carrie replied flexing her arms to work the ache out of them. She headed inside the house and found Beca and Hannah carrying the last box together over to the pile that had formed in the middle of the lounge. She flopped down on the sofa and after sending Beca out to Chloe, grabbed Hannah and pulled her down next to her.

'I'm cream crackered!' Hannah just looked at her and raised her eyebrows.

'But you're in the rugby team. Where's all your strength gone?'

'It got replaced by welsh cakes from my Mam.'

Hannah let out a small chuckle. She glanced out through the window and could see that the girls were beginning to look as though they were all signed off.

'Do you think they'll need me or can I leave you all to it?'

Carrie frowned and glanced sideways at her friend. She wasn't the most social person but it was rare that she would try to get out of helping someone. She registered how Hannah was staring out the window and her eyes were following the movement of either Beca or Chloe, she couldn't work out who from her position.

'I'm not sure. You'll have to ask them' She could hear Beca and Chloe step back into the house and close the front door. She spoke quieter hoping that they wouldn't hear. 'Everything ok?'

Chloe and Beca came around the corner and into the living room before she had a chance to reply. Hannah quickly nodded her head and pulled her legs up onto the sofa, hugging her legs. Carrie kept her gaze on the small girl who rested her chin on her knees for a short while before turning to the two opening the boxes in the middle of the floor.

'This one's yours.' said Beca after pulling out some pink clothes from the first box she had opened.

'And this is the bedding.' Chloe pulled out a few vacuum packed bags which had a letter on each of them. A scrawly B on one and a neat, curly C on the other.

They carried on unpacking and moving things around the house, Carrie helping Chloe and Hannah helping Beca. Chloe noticed this but kept her mouth closed. Her only opportunity to speak to her on her own was when she helped Hannah make lunch, but Carrie walked in just as she plucked up the courage. It wasn't until late afternoon that all the boxes and packaging were finally put for recycling. Chloe and Beca had spent the last hour of that time sorting out the smaller items whilst the other two retired to their rooms.

Beca stood in the middle of her room. What had previously been a very empty space was now full with her desk full of her mixes and her shelves stacked with CDs. Her bed was made with her own bedsheets and pillows and she smiled. 'This feels like home.' She heard a creak from a floorboard just outside her room and turned towards the sound. She saw Chloe leaning on the doorframe smiling at her.

'I just said exactly the same thing.'

Chloe took a seat on the edge of the bed as Beca sat down at her desk. She watched her fingers fly over the keys and music soon began to fill the air.

'You know, I'll have to get some music from Carrie and Hannah. Some of the stuff they've been playing has been pretty cool, especially Hannah.'

'Hmm...' Chloe nodded to the rhythm of the track. 'I'm gonna go cook, you making your own?'

'Yeah' She was too engrossed in the music after being apart from her equipment for so long that she barely registered Chloe leave the room. She pulled out her headphones so she could hear the finer points of the music better. She plugged them in and leaned back, allowing the music to fill her head.

It was late into the evening and Chloe was sat at her desk, her door open and while she was messaging Aubrey on her laptop she was listening to any movement in the house. Hannah had gone out for several hours and since she had been back had locked herself away in her room. Beca and Carrie had gone to bed, so Chloe knew it was just a waiting game to see who broke first, her by falling asleep, or Hannah by leaving her room to get ready for bed. By this stage she knew that the younger girl was avoiding her, but she didn't know whether it was due to embarrassment or something else. She ran a hand through her red hair, letting the curls drop down onto her shoulders. 11:52. She was glad that the term hadn't started yet, or a full day of lectures after a long day like today would not work well.

Her head spun towards the open door as she heard a sound, before realising that it was the stupid seagull from the night before. She kept typing to Aubrey, telling her everything and trying to convince her to visit. Aubrey was sceptical of Chloe's description of the weather, but Chloe was insistent that it didn't rain half as much as everyone says it does. She'd been in the UK for 3 weeks now and it hadn't rained once! She smiled as she thought of Aubrey visiting and it was only a flick of a shadow that made her turn.

She could just see a flick of dark blonde hair illuminated from her room as Hannah quickly and silently sneaked past her bedroom door. She was heading back to her room and Chloe was so shocked that she had missed her on the way to the bathroom she almost didn't move. Quickly she skirted out of her bedroom and saw Hannah just about to close her bedroom door.

'Hey' She said, quiet enough to not disturb Beca or Carrie but loud enough that she knew Hannah couldn't pretend to have not heard. Hannah stopped and visibly took a breath before turning to Chloe.

'Hey.' She smiled hoping that it would be enough to reassure Chloe that everything was fine.

'Can we talk?' Chloe asked. 'About last night?' She saw the panic flood Hannahs face. 'I just want to make sure you're ok.' She walked down the few steps towards her and noticed that Hannah also took a step backwards. Chloe gently reached out and held Hannahs hands in her own.

'I'm fine. I'm sorry if I woke you.' She tried to pull her hands out of Chloes grasp without making it too obvious but she was unsucessful.

'You didn't wake me. It must've been a pretty bad dream though?' She led Hannah to her bed and sat on the edge of it. Hannah didn't know what else to do other than join her. She didn't have much choice anyway, Chloe still had hold of her hands.

'I don't remember it.'

Chloe looked unconvinced, but she could see that pushing Hannah for answers was not going to work. Not tonight. 'If you ever wanted to talk then come and find me, yeah? If you get a bad dream, you can come and wake me up. Or if you ever just want a hug.'

Hannah just nodded, full in the knowledge that she wouldn't ever wake Chloe up for any of those reasons, she wouldn't do that to anyone. And right now she just wanted to be alone.

'Okay, I'll leave to sleep. I hope you get a better night than last night.' She pulled Hannah into a hug before standing up and leaving but not before she heard Hannah very quietly say to herself,

'Me too.'


	7. Riverboats and Lockpicking

**Thank you to Vahuene and KissKendrick for answering questions on music for me =] It's taken ages for me to find the time to write this, but the next 2 chapters have already been planned and so shouldn't be too long before they are up. Please review, even if it's to say that i have a really poor taste in music =P**

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It was a few weeks later, and although they had all started their courses, they still had time to hang out together. Chloe was at another seminar for her psychology course and the rest of the housemates were at home. Beca sat on Hannahs bed, the English girls laptop in her lap. Snippets of songs played out as she flicked through the music.

'These sound so different to most rock songs. They're... I dunno, happy I guess...' She smiled as she found Buck Rodgers, the song they had rocked out to on their first night.

'It's called Britpop.' Hannah said. She turned away from the journal she was reading and swivelled her desk chair round to face the American. 'It was at the same time as American grunge, but these have way cooler melodies and guitar riffs. But then I am a bit biased.'

Beca nodded. 'I've heard of some of these,' she said as she flicked past Wonderwall by Oasis. 'Not really pop though is it?'

Hannah shook her head. 'Nah, it's rock basically.'

Beca looked at the dates of the music. They were mostly early 90's. She worked out that Hannah would've been only a few years old at most when they were released. 'Aren't you a bit young for most of these? '

'Probably, my brothers introduced me to it. But you can't beat good music.' Hannah walked over to the corner of the room and picked up her guitar. After fiddling around with the amp, she reached over Becas shoulder and selected a song by Ocean Colour Scene.

Hannah joined in with the opening riff. Beca looked down laptop to see the song name; The River Boat Song. The riff was brilliant and she admired Hannahs skill with the instrument, not faltering at any point and in perfect time with the track.

Part way through the song Carrie popped her head round the door. Despite not having a similar taste to Hannah she appreciated good music when she heard it. Hannah was oblivious to Carries presence and as she played she almost forgot that Beca was watching her. As the track came to an end, Beca clicked on pause.

'Wow' She breathed. Hannah jumped as Carrie clapped and she spun around.

'I thought you were supposed to be researching?' She said, with a lightness in her voice. A sheepish smile replaced the shock on Hannahs face. She shrugged as she put the guitar back down.

'I am.' Beca piped up from the bed. Her course was on music so technically expanding her collection was to her benefit.

'Can I borrow your printer?' Carrie turned back to Hannah. She held up a memory stick in her hand. 'Need to print off some data.'

'Sure' said Hannah. She plugged it directly into the printer. 'What document?'

'Nutri.4' Carrie turned to Beca as Hannah started to print the document. 'I can show you some of music if you want. It's different to Hannahs.'

Hannah picked up the printed spreadsheets of nutritional information on a variety of foods. She handed it to Carrie. 'It's mainly boybands...' Hannah said avoiding the dig in the ribs from Carrie.

'Oh but you love Never Forget!' Carrie replied.

'Yeah, before you played it to death!' Said Hannah. She sat back down at her desk and returned to the article she was reading. Carrie looked at Hannah then at Beca, she held a finger to her lips and softly walked over to the laptop. Beca held it up towards her and Carrie moved the mouse to another folder of music. She quickly scrolled through before her eyes lit up, having found what she was looking for.

The laptop burst to life with a country music style that Beca hadn't heard before. A few moments into the introduction there were a variety of honks, quacks, moo's and baa's!

'Carrie!' exclaimed Hannah, leaping across the room towards the laptop, but Carrie was waiting and got between them faster.

'Now, come on. This is music from your homeland. You should be proud.' Carrie said, whilst fighting away Hannahs arms. The small girl was no match for the Welshman who easily kept her at bay. Beca was now laughing considerably too but she wasn't sure whether it was the fighting or the music which was funnier. 'This Beca, is the Wurzels. Apparently everyone in Somerset is a closet fan.'

'What genre is this then?' Beca laughed. Hannah stopped wrestling with Carrie and looked over to her with a completely serious face.

'Scrumpy and Western.' Beca raised her eyebrows in an attempt to seem serious, but collapsed into laughter again. Carrie became momentarily distracted and Hannah seized her chance to grab the laptop and slam the top shut. 'I'm going to get some food.'

Carrie and Beca looked at each other again and collapsed onto the bed.

Carrie sat bolt upright in her bed. She knew something had woken her but she wasn't sure what. Nothing ever woke her, she thought frowning. She began to lay back down when the awful scream happened again. It was coming from upstairs. She lept out of bed and flew up the stairs. As she left her room she could hear urgent whispers above her to which she looked as she ascended the stairs. One of the rooms had light flowing from it into the hallway and Carrie could just make out some red hair and a smaller figure. She was just about to speak when the scream came again followed by a loud crash.

It was coming from Hannahs room. Carrie and Beca had frozen on the stop when they heard the crash, but Chloe had ran down the few steps and tried to open her door.

'It's locked.' she whispered, turning to the others.

'But we never lock our doors,' replied Carrie.

'What if there's someone in there?' Beca looked frightened. Her panic increased when Chloe pressed her ear against the door.

'I think she's dreaming.' Chloe could hear the uneven breathing and faint sobs from the last time she had stood outside Hannahs door at night. Another scream rang out and Chloe jumped away from the door.

'How do you know?' Carrie asked. Feeling a little braver she climbed the last few steps and tried the handle on the door again, exhaling in frustration at also being unable to open it.

'It happened the other night.' Chloe looked around. There was nothing in the hall they could use to open the door although she was seriously contemplating attempting to kick it open.

Beca was still stood by Chloes room and the light from her room light Chloes desk enough for her to see a hair grip. She knew that she could easily pick the lock, so she reached in and grabbed the pin.

'Are you sure we shouldn't just leave her?' Beca asked. She had no idea what to do but she knew how embarrassed she would be if 3 people suddenly went into her room which she'd locked.

Chloe nodded her head. 'She was terrified the other night, but she wasn't screaming.'

Beca crouched down next to the lock and quickly moved the grip around inside the lock. The was a small click but it was drowned out by another scream. She pressed down the handle and fell sideways as Chloe and Carrie rushed past her into the room. Carrie gasped and just stood in shock at the room. Hannahs bedside lamp was on the floor, along with an empty glass, the water which had been inside was spilt across the carpet. But most shocking was the sight of Hannah wrapped up in her duvet sprawled across the floor. She was once again shaking and breathing erratically with her hands tangled in her hair but this time she was kicking as though she was trying to get away from someone.

Chloe was crouched down beside her in an instant. The scene was worse than previously, but she had had some knowledge of what would lie behind the door when it opened.

'Hey, hey, hey. Shhhh,' She soothed. 'It's Chloe, wake up Hannah. Hannah? Come on, wake up.' She stroked the dark blonde hair and moved it out of Hannahs eyes. Her skin was once again beaded with sweat. Beca by now was stood next to Carrie her eyes wide. Chloe looked over at them. 'Can one of you hold her legs? She's going to kick me otherwise.' It took a second for it to register on the two before they both moved forwards and gently but firmly held Hannahs legs down to protect Chloe.

I wonder who she thinks she'd protecting herself from? Carrie thought as she watched Chloe gently move her hands ontop of Hannahs. As she did, Hannah opened her mouth and screamed again. She tried to shrink away from Chloe but Chloe moved with her.

'Shhh, it's ok. Hannah, you're dreaming. Wake up.' Chloe's eyes did not leave Hannahs face and she registered a slight relaxation. She kept soothing her and kept her hands placed over the girls. After a few more seconds Hannahs breathing completely stopped. Chloe panicked and looked across at Carrie but as soon as she turned her head she heard a sharp intake of breath. She flicked her head back and saw two terrified blue eyes looking back at her.


	8. Cwtchs and Flinches

**No one reviewed so I'm none the wiser as to whether I have a good or bad taste in music! Seriously please review, I can't get better if I don't know what to change.**

 **This chapter was going to be posted along with the next one, but it would've been a huge chapter!**

 **This is the part where I start teaching the welsh language. 'cwtch' is like a hug, or cuddle, and 'Nos Da' is goodnight (Nos-night, Da-good).**

 **Oh and I never mentioned that the cover photo is of Smeaton's Tower on Plymouth Hoe which I took when I was at Uni.**

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'Hey, it's Chloe.' Chloe gave a reassuring smile at the girl cowering infront of her. Gently she guided her hands out of her hair and held them in her own. Hannahs eyes flickered around the room and past Chloe to where Carrie and Beca were still holding her legs. The fear on their faces almost matched the fear on her own. Carrie caught sight of Hannah staring at her and the knowledge that her best friend was awake changed her emotion to one of concern. Her features softened and she let go of Hannahs leg as Beca did likewise, and she moved to give Hannah a hug.

She did not expect Hannah to flinch away however. She froze, not wanting to do anything else to upset her before slowly backing away to sit next to Chloe. She looked behind her to where Beca was, unsure what to do. Chloe still held onto Hannahs hands, slowly reassuring her and Carrie felt useless. Beca read the upset in Carries face and decided that it might be best for both Hannah and Carrie if they left Chloe to help Hannah. She spotted the glass on the floor not too far from where Carrie was knelt.

'Let's get Hannah a drink' she said, pointing towards it.

Carrie nodded and slowly reached out and picked up the glass. Just before she went to stand up she stretched her hand out towards where Hannahs and Chloes were intertwined. She placed her hand onto of them and gave a gentle squeeze but she could feel them shaking and wanting to pull away.

'It's okay,' she breathed quietly before standing up and following Beca out of the room. They went down to the kitchen without saying a word. Carrie was clutching at the glass with white knuckle and began to shake as she filled it up from the tap. She put it down on the draining board and turned around to look at Beca. A few seconds passed before Carrie walked over to the door and silently closed it so Hannah and Chloe upstairs couldn't hear.

'Why... What happened... Why..?' Carrie looked directly into Beca's eyes. She couldn't understand all the emotion. She was concerned for her friend, she was scared of what had happened but she was upset because Hannah seemed to be scared of her. Beca seemed to understand what Carrie was unable to put into words.

'Chloe is great at looking after people. Trust me, she looked after me when things all went wrong for me.' Beca closed the distance between them. 'I don't know what happened but we are all tired and I think you could do with some sleep.' Carrie looked down and nodded. Beca let out an internal sigh and pulled Carrie into a hug. It was something she never did but she knew that if it were Chloe infront of her that's what she would want. Carrie gratefully accepted the hug and sniffed back a few tears.

Meanwhile upstairs Chloe was still knelt infront of Hannah. She was beginning to relax a little in her facial expression but her hands were shaking and her breathing was not becoming any more even. Chloe had tried to get the girl to do some breathing with her but to no avail, so she was going to wait it out. The fear in Hannahs eyes was slowly being replaced with tiredness. Chloe could see this and knew that she must be exhausted. She made a decision to not question Hannah on what had happened until the morning but also that no matter what Hannahs protests were, she would sleep in her room that night.

They could both hear footsteps coming up the stairs.

'It's just me' came Carries welsh accent, 'I've got you both some water.' She treaded softly into the room. 'Do you want it now... or...?'

Chloe had remained studying Hannah and saw that she hadn't reacted at all to Carrie. She had noticed that their hands and stopped shaking and that her breathing had calmed to the point of tiredness. She looked up at Carrie.

'Can you put them on the side please?' Carrie nodded and placed them where the glass had originally stood.

'We're going back to bed. Did you need anything?'

'Can you grab my duvet? and maybe a pillow?' Chloe looked up at Carrie. She knew this was hard on her, seeing her best friend be scared of her, but at this moment in time Hannah was her priority. Carrie nodded and slipped out of the room returning less than a minute later. She put the duvet on the bed along with the pillows and went to leave the room. As she passed Hannah she desperately wanted to give her a cwtch, but she didn't know if it was a good idea. Internally she was kicking herself. This was her best friend who she'd lived with for 2 years, yet she didn't know how to act around her. She left the room with a quick goodnight and pulled the door to.

'It'll be better in the morning,' a voice said over the bannister. Carrie looked up to see Beca giving her a small tight smile.

'I hope so. Nos da.' They both went to their rooms and climbed into bed. Neither fell asleep instantly but soon their tiredness overtook them.

When Carrie had left the room, Chloe tried to persuade Hannah to stand up. She gently pulled their hands upwards. Hannah in her sleepy state moved her legs around underneath her.

'Come on Hannah, lets get you onto the bed.'

After a little bit more coaxing, pulling and lifting she managed to get the girl onto the bed, all the time never letting go of her hands. She pulled her duvet up over the sleepy girl and freed her hands. Hannah shifted her position so she layed with her back against the wall, as far away from the edge she had falled off of earlier. Chloe smoothed the duvet and tucked her in. She took a step back having planned on sleeping on the floor, before cautiously climbing onto the bed. She thought that sharing a duvet with Hannah might scare her even more, so pulled up a blanket that was discarded at the end of the bed. She turned to face Hannah who had seemed to have fallen asleep. Carefully she reached out and placed her hand on the girls shoulder, just to let her know that she was here for her.

A yawn escaped from her mouth and suddenly she realised how tired she was. After checking once again that Hannah was ok and peaceful she allowed her eyes to close. She could barely hear the other girls breathing above her own but she was glad that was the case.

'I'm sorry.'

Chloe's eyes shot open and were met with Hannahs which were full of apology. Chloe gently close the distance between them, stopping at another flinch from Hannah.

'It's ok. You're ok.' Hannah's eyes slipped closed again and Chloe took a chance and cuddled up to the younger girl. Despite the duvet separating them it was the closest thing to a hug that Hannah had allowed that night. With a gentle smile Chloe closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber.


	9. Tea and Talking

**Ok so last chapter, this chapter and the next were all supposed to be one, but it would've been ridiculously long! I was originally only going to split it into 2 chapters but I like the end of this one, I think it just signalled the end of the chapter to me, so the next one is going to be pretty short...**

 **By the way I'm not one for writing trigger warnings on each chapter. I don't think this fiction is triggering so I'm not going to write that on every chapter. You should all realise the tone of this by now. Also I read an authors note about ratings which seem a lot stricter in US than here. I'm kind of going for just after the watershed rating by UK standards, but apparently you don't have that in the US..? I'm very confused. oh well.**

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Chloe opened her eyes, blinked a few times then looked over to her left. She smiled at the sight of Hannah still sleeping peacefully. She looked around for a clock but couldn't find one. She guessed it was about 7 as the sun was fully risen but she could hear little movement around the house. She didn't dare move, scared of waking the 21 year old. Chloe was glad that she was getting some undisturbed sleep, the thought of which made her yawn. She closed her eyes again and fell into a lighter sleep than she had a few hours ago.

Hannah slowly stretched out her aching limbs. She pushed her feet down further into the covers and tried to stretch her arms out sideways but found she was unable to. She turned her head to the left and opened her eyes and was surprised to come face to face with a wall. That explained why she couldn't stretch out that way. She turned her head to the right and saw a mass of red hair. Oh no, she thought. What happened...? She saw the person next to her begin to move and quickly shut her eyes again, hoping to pretend to still be asleep. But as she thought back to last night and tried to work out why Chloe was sleeping next to her, a few memories began to resurface. She remembered Chloe trying to calm her down. She must've had another bad dream. Her breathing began to quicken again causing Chloe to sit up immediately and return to the comforting mode she had spent the previous night in.

'Hannah, it's ok. just breathe.' Hannah opened her eyes. She looked into Chloes bright blue eyes, unsure of what to do. She was so embarrassed that her emotions were so obvious.

'Hey, you're ok. It's just me.' Hannah sat up and pushed herself into the corner of the bed. Her breathing was still getting worse but she managed to speak a few words.

'Why are you here?'

Chloe looked at the dark blonde hair obscuring Hannahs face and gently moved it aside, before moving to sit infront of her.

'I want to help you. You were scared and well, you scared us a bit too. I didn't want you to be alone incase you got scared again.'

Hannah nodded. She felt bad for scaring Chloe and the fact that she must've had a bad nights sleep because of her. Then she realised that Chloe had said 'us'. She vaguely remembered Carrie being there too. She felt even worse.

'I'm sorry.' Hannah whispered. Her default saying.

'Don't be silly, you have nothing to be sorry about. You couldn't help it.' Chloe tried to keep the reassuring smile on her face but inside she was worried about Hannah. She wasn't letting anyone in, signs she recognised from Beca. It had taken her so long to get her to open up, but she could tell that she had needed help. Exactly like the girl infront of her. She noticed that Hannahs breathing was slowing down now, but she was avoiding looking anywhere near Chloe. Her legs were drawn up around her and it was like she was completely cut off from the world.

'Do you want something to drink? I need my morning caffeine!' Chloe decided that getting out of the room to give Hannah some time to think alone might help her to relax. She defiantly was not going to attempt to get her to open up in the state she was in. Previous experience told her that was not a good idea. She went to stand up and looked to Hannah for an answer.

'Can I have tea please?' Hannah was glad that Chloe was leaving. She could spend the time working out a way to convince her that what had happened wasn't a problem.

'Sure thing.' Chloe made her way downstairs and after putting the kettle on, grabbed 2 mugs out of the cupboard. She took a spoon out of the drawer and chucked some coffee into one of the mugs and a teabag into the other. As soon as the kettle boiled she poured the water over the teabag, then some into her own mug of coffee. She was glad that Carrie wasn't up yet after how confused and out of her depth she was last night. Chloe wanted to give Hannah a chance to think but also wanted to be out of the kitchen before Carrie woke up. She looked at the mug of tea infront of her and decided that she couldn't chance waiting any longer and removed the teabag. In the short time she had lived with the British girls she had quickly learnt how to make a good cup of tea, something of a staple of living in the UK. She poured a little milk into each mug and gave them both another quick stir. Carefully she picked up each mug and climbed the stairs back to Hannahs room.

As she was just about to go back into the room she heard movement behind her. She smiled in relief as she saw Beca. Beca just smiled back in reply. The unspoken words between them were understood. Beca was there for Chloe, as was Chloe for Beca. Chloe took a deep breathe and walked into Hannahs room, pushing the door closed behind her with her hip.

Hannah was sat in her dressing gown in her bed. She looked up when Carrie walked in and attempted a smile as she handed her the tea. Chloe saw straight through it but decided not to mention it. Chloe sat down next to Hannah and frowned when Hannah subtly shifted to move a little away from her.

Both girls wanted to speak first but neither knew how to begin. They sipped their drinks in unison before Chloe gained some bravery.

'Do you remember what happened?' She looked sideways at the girl next to her.

'No.' Hannah lied. Chloe once again saw through this, but before she could speak Hannah continued. 'I'm sorry if I woke you. I'm fine. I just seem to have dreams when I'm tired.'

'What was your dream about?' Chloe decided that if she could keep Hannah talking then maybe she would open up more. She knew that Hannah would try and make out that everything was fine but she also knew that pushing her to speak would cause her to shut down. Even if she was lying, she was still speaking.

'Oh, I don't remember.'

'What do you normally dream about?'

'Just the standard, you know... ' She trailed off to think of a cliché common dream. 'Falling i 'spose. You know the one where you always wake up before you reach the ground.'

'Hmm,' Chloe nodded her head. She'd never had that dream and she doubted very much whether Hannah had too. 'Do you get bad dreams?'

Hannah stayed quiet for a little bit. Chloe glanced sideways at her again. 'Sometimes.'

'What happens in them?'

Hannahs answer was quick this time. 'I don't know, I don't remember when I wake up.'

Chloe put her half drunk coffee down on the bedside table. She twisted so one leg was underneath her and she was facing Hannah. She gently placed her hand on her arm.

'When did they start?'

Hannah looked at Chloe with a mixture of confusion and fear on her face. 'When I was a child. Doesn't every child have nightmares?'

'When did they start again though? How long have you been having these bad dreams?'

Hannah gripped the mug hard. She knew that Chloe was reading her like an open book and it scared her. Her answers which she had prepared in response were running out and Chloe was wording the questions to stop her hiding things. 'I dunno, a while. '

'Weeks?' There was no response. 'Months?' Chloe could feel Hannahs arm tense even though she didn't reply. 'Ok.' Chloe let Hannah know that she knew. 'You can ask for help you know. You don't have to do this alone.'

Suddenly Hannah stood up. She couldn't take this anymore. She was tired, scared and just wanted to curl up and sleep.

'I'm fine. There's nothing wrong. I had a bad dream, I'm sorry you were stood with your ear against my door to hear me.' She didn't get angry easily and she knew that afterwards she'd feel bad for raising her voice at Chloe, but right now she didn't care. She looked at Chloe expecting her to be shocked, upset or equally angry but instead she was remaining calm. This didn't make Hannah feel any better. 'I don't need any help. Everyone gets bad dreams sometimes.' She turned away from Chloe and walked towards her laptop on her desk.

Chloe watched her and thought long and hard about what she was going to say next.

'You were screaming.' Hannah shot her head around to face Chloe. Her face showed her shock. She knew that she was screaming in her dream but she didn't think it would convert into reality. She didn't know what to say. She turned back to her computer.

Chloe walked up to her and crouched down beside her.

'I know I've been saying that you're ok all morning but you're not are you.' She said it as a statement rather than a question. ''You're safe, you have people who care about you but you need to let someone help you.' It was the same speech she had given Beca. 'Let us help you.'

'I can't.' Hannah's mind was working so quickly. She was trying to work out what to do. She couldn't drag other people down with her. She had got this far without doing so. But at the back of her mind she knew that things had got worse over the summer. There were constant thoughts that plagued her and even though her nightmares were frequent she didn't think that anybody else would learn about them.

'What are you scared of?' Chloes eyes looked into the dark blue eyes of Hannah. She looked back and this time answered truthfully.

'I don't know.' Chloe gathered her into her arms as for the first time since she had met Hannah she broke down with tears escaping her eyes.

For the first time since she had woken up that morning Hannah felt , she was crying but her mind wasn't racing anymore. She wasn't trying to think of answers for every scenario, thinking of ways to make everything go away. She had just admitted that no, she wasn't ok, but that was ok.


	10. Sleeping and Worrying

Once Hannahs tears had subsided Chloe gently pulled her back and looked at her. The exhaustion on her face was clear to see.

'You should get some rest.' She gently led Hannah back to her bed and got her to lay down. 'I'll be in my room if you need me. If you get scared come and find me' Hannahs eyes fluttered closed and she let the wave of tiredness take her off into a deep sleep. Chloe gently brushed Hannahs hair back and leant over her, gently kissing the top of her head. The four girls were like sisters and even though Chloe knew it was stupid she felt like the kiss would protect Hannah from her bad dreams and let her sleep. She walked out the door and hesitated about shutting it. She decided to pull it about 2/3 of the way closed so that she could hear if Hannah had a bad dream.

She ran her hand though her hair as she climbed the few steps to her room. She needed a shower but it would have to wait until she knew that Hannah was awake and that she wouldn't be needed.

She paused at her doorway before moving onto the next door and into Becas room. She saw Beca lying with her back to the door and she could see her tablet lit up over her shoulder. She gently climbed onto the bed and cuddled up next to her. Chloes exhaustion overcame her and she let out a large yawn.

'You should get some sleep.' Beca said without turning around. She knew that although her best friend had slept a bit, she would've spent most of the night worrying and checking that Hannah was ok. When she didn't get a response from Chloe she looked over her shoulder and saw that the redhead was biting her lip. Beca could almost see the internal argument she was having. On the one hand she was tired and needed to look after herself, on the other she wanted to be there incase Hannah needed her.

'It's ok, I'll listen out for her. I'll wake you if she needs you.'

Chloe looked at her best friend. This was so typical of Beca. She seemed hard and unapproachable to the outside world, but she would always ensure their friends looked after themselves, even if they were looking after someone else. She remembered how throughout the time Beca needed her, not a day would go by, however low Beca was, without her asking if she was ok, checking she was looking after herself, making sure that she was not a burden. She ghosted a nod before her head made contact with the soft pillow and like Hannah had earlier, fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Carrie woke up and rolled onto her side. After blinking a few times she looked across at the clock. It was late even by her standards. Then she remembered what happened last night. The look of terror on her best friends face and how upset she was that she couldn't comfort her. The house around her was quiet. Normally there would be the gently sound of music playing or people walking around. She figured they had all gone out.

Without her.

She turned back onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She didn't know why but she felt sad, jealous even. She tried to reason with herself. It wasn't Hannahs fault she was scared and yes it was better that she got comfort from someone, even if it wasn't her. But the way she had flinched away from her but not Chloe. It was as though she had done something wrong.

'They probably wanted to get away from me.' She whispered to herself.

She sighed and got up. As she left her room and headed to the bathroom she was surprised to see Hannahs door slightly open, normally if they go out it's closed. She turned and looked up towards where Beca and Chloes rooms were. Both their doors were open too. As she walked past Chloes she saw no sign of her in the room and still no duvet on the bed. She walked the few steps to Becas door and nearly jumped at the sight of the two Americans lying on the bed. Chloe didn't react at all to Carries presence, but Beca looked over and smiled.

'Are you ok?' She asked. Carrie just replied with a small nod. Beca could see the mixture of emotions in Carries face, but one was blaringly obvious. She was upset. Very gently Beca stood up and carefully stepped over the sleeping figure and lightly off the bed to the doorway where Carrie stood.

'Hannah was scared last night, she probably feels terrible for everything that happened.' Beca looked directly into Carries brown eyes. 'Talk to her when she wakes up. I have a feeling she needs her best friend.'

Carrie shifted uncomfortably. 'How do you know so much about this?' she asked. Her mind latched onto what Beca had said to her the previous night. 'You said Chloe looked after you.'

Beca's gaze dropped. She knew that with how close they had all become it was going to be difficult to avoid why they moved to the UK, but she had hoped to be more prepared when the time came. 'She did. Things got pretty bad for me, but Chloe caught me before it was too late.'

'What happened?' Carrie didn't want to intrude but the question just fell out of her mouth.

Beca looked at the blonde haired girl who was just a few months younger than her but who seemed in this moment to be so much more.

'Another day. Let's look after Hannah for now.' Beca smiled at Carrie. What she had been through was still difficult and even though she acted as though she was over it, it still had a hold over her.

Carrie accepted Becas response but she still felt at a loss.

'What do I do though? What do I say? How can I help her?' She stopped at Becas touch on her arm.

'Just be her best friend. Be the person you always are. Just listen to her if she wants to talk. Let Chloe be the comfort and let yourself be the best friend.'

'What about you?'

'I'll provide the soundtrack.' Beca smirked and let out an internal sigh of relief when she saw a genuine smile appear on Carrie's face. 'Have you decided on a dress for tomorrow yet?'

The smile dropped from Carries face, but Beca wasn't worried. For the past few days Carrie had been constantly asking for opinions on which dress was appropriate for the occasion the following day.

'I've got it down to 2. I think i'll decide tomorrow when my Mam gets here.' Carrie looked over at Beca. She knew what Beca had done, averting her attention onto something else and she was grateful. She turned away from Beca and went into the bathroom with the same look Chloe had worn earlier whilst making a decision.

Beca let out a little laugh and climbed back onto her bed, where Chloe immediately reached out and cuddled her. Even in her sleep, Chloe did not understand boundaries, Beca thought to herself.

* * *

Hannah looked up from her desk at the knock on her door. She frowned as she looked over to the open door. No-one knocks on the door if it's open she thought.

'Yeah?'

Carrie nervously stepped into the room. Her hands were wringing, giving her nerves away. 'Hey... Are you..'

'I'm sorry.' Hannah blurted out interrupting Carrie. Carrie suddenly felt all of her nervousness disappear and she was knelt next to Hannahs desk in an instant.

'You have nothing to be sorry about.' She looked into Hannahs eyes. 'We were worried about you. Is something going on?'

Hannah looked away. She didn't want to talk about any of this with Carrie as she knew how upset she would get and she was worrried she wouldn't be able to handle it.

Carrie remembered what Beca had said to her.

'It's ok if you don't want to talk to me about it. As long as you let us know if you need us.' Hannah nodded in response and she could feel all the guilt overtaking her. 'Now come here and have a cwtch.'

Carrie pulled Hannah into a hug, and then spotted the dress hanging up on the back of the door.

'Oooh, is that what you're wearing tomorrow?' She moved over to the dress and stroked the blue and white swirly pattern. 'I've never seen you in a dress.'

'Yeah... my aunt insisted...' Hannah pulled a face. She was much more at home in jeans and a t-shirt. Carrie laughed before going forward and grabbing Hannahs hands. This time Hannah didn't flinch and Carrie gave her a huge grin.

'We're graduating tomorrow!' She shouted as she jumped up and down.

* * *

 **Graduation at the beginning of term?! What is this weird practice I hear you ask. Well I don't since no-one reviews but ah well, it just means I can continue to write this however I want!**

 **It will get a lot more angsty soon, and it will explain why Beca and Chloe moved to the UK. It will involve emotional abuse (not physical) so be warned...**


	11. Roads and Robes

**Thank you for the review Susana =] Hopefully this explains it.**

 **Btw, i hope you can pronounce the names... here's a guide if not.  
Cariad ; Carrie-add  
Seren; seh-ren  
Ieuan; Yigh-an**

* * *

That night everyone slept soundly, although Chloe made sure to leave her door slightly open should Hannah need her.

Carrie opened her eyes and flapped her hand across to turn her alarm off for the sixth time that morning. It was 7:30am. As she rolled over to turn away from the clock she came face to face with two blue eyes staring into her brown eyes.

'Get up.' Hannah said matter of factly. She was glad that there hadn't been another repeat of the previous night and was happy that everything had gone back to normal. A little too normal however with Carrie sleeping in late. 'Even Chloe is awake and she's not graduating.'

Both Carrie and Hannah were graduating in the 10 o'clock ceremony. Despite taking different subjects, Hannah with biomedical science, and Carrie with nutrition, their classes were similar enough to share the occasion. They needed to pick their gowns up from the marquee at 9 so they and their guests would have to leave the house before then. Chloe was exceptionally excited about the prospect of a British graduation and they had managed to find 2 extra tickets so both she and Beca could attend.

'Urgh...' Carrie eventually sat up. She calculated that she probably had about an hour until her Mam arrived with her younger brothers.

She busied herself getting ready, doing her nails and putting on the dress (a green lacy one which she had chosen over a skype conversation with her Mam the night before). As she was just beginning to put her make up on the doorbell rang.

'Blast! I'm not ready!' She yelled. She saw Beca flicker past her door towards the front door.

'Don't worry it's my family.' She called as she spotted the outline of her older brother, cousin and aunt waiting on the doorstep. She opened the door with a smile.

'Oh Hannah! You look beautiful.' Her Aunt cried as she took in the sight of Hannah in her dress with her dark blonde hair falling naturally over her shoulders. She was barefoot still but her toenails were painted electric blue and matched the dress perfectly.

Hannah blushed and ushered them into the living room, saying hello to her cousin, Kathryn, and finally her brother, Ben. They wouldn't be spending long at the house so Hannah didn't worry about offering them drinks. She was glad that both her and Carries families were very laid back and so she wasn't worried about leaving Chloe and Beca with them during the ceremony.

She had just started making small talk when the doorbell rang again. Carrie shot past the lounge doorway and threw open the door.

'Hi Mam,' she called as she rushed back into her bedroom to finish her make up.

'Are you not ready yet!' Called a lilting welsh tone. A spitting image of Carrie only older poked her head into the living room. 'Hello Hannah, you look amazing.' She dragged a young boy into the room and introduced him as Morgan, Carrie's 7 year old brother. Behind him was an older teenage boy dressed in an oversized suit who introduced himself when prompted by a sharp dig in the ribs by his mothers elbow as Ieuan. Hannahs family introduced themselves and soon there was easy conversation flowing. It wasn't until Kathryn pointed it out that Hannah realised she wasn't quite ready, namely the lack of footwear. She excused herself and quickly made her way to her room to completely finish getting ready and make sure that Chloe and Beca were also ready to leave.

Not long after, Beca walked into Hannahs room and sat down on the bed. She was wearing smart trousers and a dark blue top. Hannah looked at her jealously, she'd much rather wear trousers than a dress.

'So what's the deal with you guys graduating now?' Beca enquired. She still hadn't quite got her head around the fact that Carrie and Hannah hadn't yet graduated and it was September.

'Well we have to wait for our results which is in July, then if there's any resits they're in August and then everyone who passed graduates now. Although different universities graduate at different times... some in July, some later.' Chloe had heard the end of their conversation and joined them.

'What about when you left high school, was that in September too?' Chloe asked the Brit, who was struggling to do up the buckle on her shoes.

Hannah stopped and looked at her with confusion across her face. 'What do you mean?'

'Your high school graduation... was it in September?' Chloe asked as she took over and fixed the stubborn strap on the silver shoes.

'Ohh, we didn't have a graduation when we left school.' Chloe and Beca looked up in shock.

'So when did you get your qualifications?'

'On results day in august. We just turned up, picked them up and went home... I got my certificates a while later though.'

'but what about celebrating and stuff!'

'When I left secondary school we had a leavers day where we dressed up in fancy dress and a t-shirt signing day. And there was a year 13 ball in sixth form just after exams, but that was it. We had no idea whether we'd passed or failed our A-levels or what University we'd got into until mid august.' Hannah shrugged her shoulders. She glanced into the mirror quickly to check that she looked presentable before leading Chloe and Beca out of her room to where her family were waiting.

They all head into town, walking in twos or threes and making chat about anything from the weather to holidays. Everyone was getting along brilliantly and the conversation flowed with ease. The group came to a set of traffic lights. Beca was talking to Hannah and her cousin nearer the front and barely noticed when they kept walking straight across the road.

Chloe however saw that the light for pedestrians was red and even though the road was clear she hesitated. She glanced to her side and saw a policeman walking towards them. She panicked and stood stock still. Everyone else continued to cross and she was left on the other side of the normally busy road.

Carrie looked back to see where the redhead who she was talking to had disappeared to. She frowned when she saw her waiting on the kerb next to the lights. Despite her beckoning she only crossed when the lights were red for the traffic.

'What was that all about?' Carrie enquired.

'Did you not see the policeman? You were all jaywalking right infront of him!' Chloe said with her eyes wide. Carrie stared at Chloe for a second or two until she clicked what jaywalking meant.

Then she burst out laughing. Rushing ahead to make up the lost ground to Hannah she yelled; 'Chloe thought she was going to be arrested for jaywalking.'

Everyone turned around with various degrees of amusement on their faces except for Carries youngest brother who wore an expression of confusion. Chloe's face turned as red as her hair.

'The policeman was right there.' She gestured to her left vaguely. She looked to Beca for some assistance but saw she too was smirking.

'Remember what I told you about the different laws over here...' Beca trailed off as Chloe cottoned on to where Beca was going with this. Before they left America they had researched the laws which are different from the UK to America. There were the obvious ones like lower drinking age and strong limits on guns but there were also those which meant that Beca had fished Chloes mace out of her handbag to be left in the USA.

'Oh yeah...' She said, then seeing an opportunity to distract the attention away from herself pointed at the sight which had just materialised as they rounded the corner. There on the Hoe overlooking the ocean was a beautiful white marquee surrounded by people milling about in suits and robes and smart dresses. 'Wow' She said. Everyone stopped and took in the view too. The sun was shining bright over the ripples of the waves and the grass seemed even brighter green than normal, contrasting perfectly with the brilliant blue sky. The red and white of the Smeatons tower lighthouse just finished off the scene beautifully.

As soon as they entered the marquee Hannah was dragged off by Carrie to get 'gowned up' as she put it. Despite her reservations throughout the day Hannah was actually looking forward to the occasion. She pulled on the heavy black robes before a lady put the blue and orange hood around her neck. Unlike American graduation robes, they were not fastened leaving their dresses still visible. On the other side of the room she could see Carrie going through the same thing with a wide smile plastered over her face. It was infectious and a smile creeped onto Becas face too as she waited for the hood to be secured to her shoulders and the front of her dress. The point of the hood rested on her chest and the v carried over her shoulders and trailed down her back. Finally she was handed her mortar board hat which fitted snugly. She quickly stole a glance in the mirror and barely recognised herself. It was a very different look from her usual jeans and hoodie.

She waited for Carrie to finish her final touches before they returned to their families. As they walked towards them there were gasps and smiles and the click of cameras greeting them. Chloe was positively bouncing up and down in excitement. After they had all posed for photographs with each other, Ben gently steered Hannah away from the group.

'We're all really proud of you.' Ben looked at his sister. While they had spent many years apart since he had left at 18, they remained very close.

'I know.' Hannah replied. She smiled up at him. He had been the constant throughout her life and she knew if it weren't for him, her aunt and her cousin she wouldn't have made it through the 3 years of undergraduate studies. They stood awkwardly for a little bit before Ben laughed and pulled her into a quick hug. As they pulled apart they saw a few people beginning to move into the graduation hall.

'Let's do this.' He said with a smile guiding her back to their group. Carrie and Hannah each took their tickets from their family members and Chloe gave them both a quick hug before they parted and sat in their designated seats.

Carrie looked down at her ticket and turned it over to the instructions for what to do. She turned to her course mate and pointed to the middle one; -hold your hands as in prayer.

'what does that mean?' She asked.

'I have no idea... I'm just going to watch and find out.' She replied. They both laughed before quickly quietening down as the music started up.

The ceremonial mace was carried in followed by all the lecturers and professors in the bright multicoloured gowns, each indicating their location and level of degree. There were purple and blue, gold and red and orange and blue. They took their seats on the stage and there were several speeches by members of staff from each of their heads of school. Then the student names were begun to be read out one by one. Carrie spotted Hannah stood near to side of the stage edging forward with each student passing.

'Hannah Louise Richardson'

She walked forwards, held her hands together as the chancellor surrounded them with his own. He spoke a few words which were lost over the sound of applause, before she made her way to the other side of the stage, collected her certificate from her head of course and carefully made her way down the steps. As she came back around to take her seat a few rows infront of Carrie, she gave a big smile and mouthed the words 'I didn't fall over!'.

Soon it was Carries turn and she was ushered up towards the side of the stage.

'Cariad Seren Evans'

Like Hannah had before her, she crossed the stage, was congratulated by the chancellor, picked up her certificate and made her way back to the seat.

She looked down at the certificate which showed BSc(hons) after her name and smiled and she gently traced her finger over the name. This was what the 3 years had all been for, and she was so glad she was continuing in academia, this was a feeling she didn't want to lose.

Once everyone had collected their degree the students filled out between their lecturers and professors who were clapping and congratulating them.

The graduate reception gave everyone a chance to catch up with old friends and discuss their future options over champagne.

As everyone began to leave Beca managed to find both Hannah and Carrie and drag them off towards the lighthouse.

'Come on, one last photo.' She said. 'Right throw your hats up on three.'

Carrie and Hannah looked at each other and shared the same joyous grin.

'Three!' Chloe called and they both threw their hats sky high.

* * *

 **Okay, so I know the end is rubbish. Feeling pretty rubbish at the moment so for me to even get the motivation to write this chapter was something. Please review, it makes all the world of difference, it properly puts a smile on my face, something I've not had a lot of recently. =]**


	12. Sulks and Notes

**Ok, sorry it has been so long, my CFS has been pretty bad and this took a long time to write.**

 **Thank you to DaydreAmingMeA and wms5012 for reviewing. Now I know someone from Plymouth way is reading it I'll oput some more local landmarks in! (Although I didn't really go out of the centre when I was there (I never even made it to cornwall!)). It's good to know I have people from both sides of the ocean reading this and I'm trying to make it a little less confusing for you!**

 **Anyway, here's the next (long) chapter. (I hope you like the ending!)**

* * *

It was late afternoon, and the housemates were all gathered on the same two seater sofa, with the laptop open in front of them. Aubrey's face filled the screen as they chatted over skype. Although Hannah and Carrie had never met Aubrey, she was such a huge part of Beca and Chloe's lives that she was constantly mentioned around the house. This was the first time that Aubrey had seen or spoken to the two Brits.

'So what part of England are you from?' Aubrey asked.

Hannah looked across at Carrie; she could see the anger boiling inside the blonde. She turned back to the laptop screen to see a confused Aubrey.

'I'm from Somerset, north of Plymouth but still the South-West. And Carrie...'

'Is not from England!' Carrie interrupted loudly and indignantly.

'Oh... where are you from then? You sure sound English.' Aubrey replied. Even Beca and Chloe were looking at Carrie in confusion.

'I'm from Gwynedd, it's in Wales not England, I have a Welsh accent! You both knew that right?' She turned to Chloe and Beca who both averted their eyes. 'You didn't! You thought I was English!'

'I thought Wales was part of England.' Beca said bluntly. 'Like Hannah is from Somerset, you're from Wales.'

'But Wales is a country! It's a bloody brilliant country too! Did you not notice me speaking a different language sometimes?' Her eyebrows were so raised in shock Hannah was surprised they weren't hidden by her hair.

'I didn't realise it was a language, I thought it was just something you'd made up… you know, like every family has their own little sayings.'

Carrie lent back on the sofa and crossed her arms. Her grumpy face made her look like a toddler. She was muttering under her breath 'We've got Michael Sheen and Catherine Zeta-Jones… the best singers in the world… Doctor Who… and Rugby…'

The silence that had descended from the other three in the room and from the computer was broken by Chloe.

'So…' She said really loudly. 'Have you got your tickets to come over yet?'

She saw Aubrey's wide smile and excitement flooded through her.

'When?' She exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her seat.

'End of January!' She said happily.

Chloe's face fell and Beca could feel her sink back on the sofa a bit.

'That's ages away.'

Aubrey's smile faded. 'I'm sorry. It's the best I can do.' Beca could sense her guilt even through the computer screen.

'We can't wait to see you, make sure you bring us supplies!' Beca said attempting to lift the mood that had descended on the sofa with Chloe's disappointment and Carries anger. Chloe immediately responded with a vigorous nod.

'I'll send you a list!'

Carrie however didn't rise out of her grump but uttered a few words under her breath that were caught by everyone on the sofa and the microphone on the laptop.

'First they don't know what Wales is, now our stuff isn't good enough.'

Everyone stared at her. She looked up at them before they all burst into uncontrollable laughter.

* * *

Chloe's eye flickered open. She didn't even think before swinging her legs out of the bed and making her way out of her room in the pitch dark. The faint sound of crying from Hannah's room had woken nobody else but she was now attuned to the noises it took very little to wake her. What she wasn't sure of was the stage at which Hannah would be in by the time she reached the room. Sometimes she would find Hannah in the early stages of the nightmare, or late. Despite Chloe's request, Hannah had never come to her room after a nightmare so sometimes she had also found the girl curled up crying in the corner of the bed.

As she walked closer to the room she was expecting to see the girl curled up and awake but what she couldn't tell is her awareness level. With a light knock on the door she pushed it open and carefully pushed it closed behind her before turning to look at Hannah. She could just make out a small lump on top the bedcovers and as she took a few steps forward she saw a glistening on Hannah's face, where tears littered her features.

'Hey,' Chloe gently called. There was no response, so she took a few more steps forward where she could see Hannah's eyes better.

'Hannah.' Chloe reached forward slowly and softly shook Hannah's shoulder. Still no response. Hannah's awareness level was obviously pretty low this time, but she also seemed to be calming. Chloe stifled a yawn and decided that the best course of action this time was to simply lie with her so that she would be there if she needed. She climbed onto the bed and pulled up the blanket from where it was folded and covered herself. She turned to face Hannah and smoothly wiped the tears from her eyes, which slipped shut as she did so.

'Sleep soundly.' Whispered Chloe, and taking Hannah's hand in her own, she squeezed it gently before also drifting off to sleep.

Chloe awoke the next day to find Hannah still asleep next to her. The lack of restful sleep was clearly wearing her down. Careful not to wake the younger girl she moved the blanket off and tucked it gently around Hannah. As she stood up she made the decision to talk to Hannah about getting some help from someone who was qualified to do so. As much as she wanted to help Hannah she knew that her nightmares were getting worse and even though she was trying to appear relaxed around Chloe, Carrie and Beca, it was clear that it was forced. Chloe walked over to Hannah's desk and looked at the calendar on the wall. She picked out todays date and smiled a little when she saw that Hannah wasn't due in the lab, or had any other commitments for the day. The talk could wait, for now Hannah could sleep.

She headed downstairs and flicked the kettle on. She heard footsteps approaching as she grabbed a mug out of the cupboard. She turned to the door as Beca entered, closely followed by Carrie. She smiled warmly at them before frowning as Beca immediately made her way towards her.

'Save yourself!' She said dramatically. 'She's on a mission!'

Chloe looked towards Carrie with confusion on her face.

'I've been up all night! I'm going to educate you about Wales.' Carrie exclaimed triumphantly. 'We have only a few days before the world cup starts, so that's the rugby covered but I have a whole itinerary for everything from music to places. I'm going to plan a field trip!' She turned around and headed back to her room.

'World cup?' questioned Chloe.

'No idea,' Beca replied her face turning serious, 'but I'm blaming Aubrey entirely.'

Chloe giggled, glad of the distraction and Beca joined in before her face turned serious again.

'You ok? She had another bad night?'

'Yeah.' Chloe sighed. 'I'm going to talk to her later, but she's sleeping now so I thought I'd leave her.'

'Good idea.' Beca reached up and gave Chloe a tight hug. Even though Beca wasn't a fan of hugs she could tell that her best friend needed one. 'I'm here if you need a break, yeah? Or I'm fairly certain that Carrie will happily give you a lecture on something about rugby if you needed a distraction.'

'You are so amazing.' The taller girl said and she smiled into the hug.

Later that morning Chloe stood outside Hannah's room. She could hear quiet music playing and could just make out the creak of the desk chair. She took a deep breath before reaching up to knock on the door.

'Yeah?' Hannah called out, swivelling in her chair to face the door as Chloe popped her head around the door.

'Are you busy?' the redhead asked. Hannah shook her head and Chloe stepped inside. Not wanting to raise alarm she only pushed the door back slightly, just to give them enough privacy. 'What you up to?'

'Just playing a game.' Hannah went to turn the chair back to face the screen but Chloe interrupted, stopping her in her tracks.

'Can we talk?'

Those three words filled Hannah with dread. Her whole body became heavy and her stomach was churning. She plastered on a smile before turning back to Chloe. 'Sure. What about?'

Unbeknownst to Hannah, Chloe was also dreading this conversation.

'I was wondering… maybe it might be the right time to try and get some help with your nightmares?' As she said it Chloe was looking down at her hands, seemingly very interested in her cuticles, but as soon as she finished she looked directly at Hannah. Her smile had only faltered slightly, she was hiding her feelings well.

'It's fine. Thank you for staying with me when I have them. I'm fairly certain they're getting better. They'll probably stop soon.' Chloe frowned.

'That's not really true though is it? I think maybe you need to get some help, maybe speak to a doctor or a therapist or something?'

'It's fine, you're helping.' Inside Hannah heart was thumping and her lungs felt as though they were tightening, but still she kept her façade up.

'If you make an appointment I'll go with you if you want?' Chloe said. She desperately wanted to make the appointment for Hannah, with or without her permission but she knew that if she forced Hannah then she would only be blocked out further.

'I'm not going.' This was going exactly how Chloe had it panned out in her head; Resistance and reassurance that everything is fine.

'Why not?' At this point Hannah stood up. She felt as though she couldn't breathe and she desperately wanted to bolt from the situation. But she also knew that Chloe was only trying to help. She carefully considered her response before opening her mouth to force the words out.

'I'm not going to be labelled a freak. They can't do anything anyway.' She took in Chloe's anxious face and sat down again, and was glad when her friend's tenseness relaxed.

'Have you been before?'

'Not about this, no. Whatever 'this' is.' She threw her hands up in the air and stood up once again. She was beginning to get annoyed at Chloe's constant questions and the thoughts that she was forcing her to have by thinking about them.

'Then how do you know?' Chloe asked calmly. She was watching the girls every reaction. Her looks of exasperation, the nervous twitching in her leg, her eyes darting around the room avoiding Chloe at all costs. She could sense that Hannah was beginning to close up and go back into denial, but she had enough experience with Beca to know when to stop pushing and she wasn't there yet. 'Why don't you just try it? See what they say?'

Hannah shook her head, and then pulled her hand up to her mouth. She started to pace around the room but avoided going anywhere near the redhead. Her anxiety was building and she couldn't hide it anymore. Her breathing started to quicken, and her hands, shoulders and head began to shake. Now Chloe knew she had gone too far. Despite the younger girls protests she calmly manoeuvred her to the bed and got her to sit down. The second the weight was lifted from her legs they too began to shake uncontrollably too.

Chloe frowned at how fast this panic attack had erupted. She had come across them before but normally for it to reach this stage would take a minute or two, not seconds. She calmly soothed Hannah, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

'It's Ok, just breathe. In and out, slowly. In, two three four, out two three four.' Chloe felt like she was holding an earthquake, Hannah was shaking so much. After what seemed like an age the panic attack subsided. Not wanting to leave the subject Chloe continued with caution.

'Please go to the doctors. You'll make yourself ill if you don't. I promise I will be there every step of the way.'

'Stop forcing me.'

Chloe crouched down in front of Hannah and calmly spoke. 'I'm never going to do that. But I do want you to get better and I think you do too. There are other options but we need to start somewhere yeah?'

'We?'

'I said I would be there for you every step of the way and I will. You will never face this alone ok?'

Hannah nodded her face down watching her hands in her lap. Chloe pushed herself up onto her knees and engulfed her in a hug.

'Every step.'

After a minute Chloe felt Hannah pull away from her and she released her from her grasp.

'Shall we do this?' Chloe said looking directly into Hannah's deep blue eyes. She picked up her phone off the bedside table and held it out to her.

Hannah took a deep breath and shakily held her hand out for the phone. She opened up her contacts and scrolled down to where she had saved the university doctors surgery. Just before she pressed dial she lowered her phone and looked up at Chloe.

'You'll come with me?'

Chloe looked at her and saw how small and fragile she seemed. She had dark circles under her eyes from the exhaustion of not sleeping properly and her hair was matted and her skin glistened with sweat from her panic attack.

'Of course.' She sent a reassuring smile to the Brit, before nodding towards the phone.

Hannah pressed dial and lifted it to her ear. She heard the familiar message asking for her to choose which option she required. She pressed 2 and then waited nervously as the ringing tone played out through the speaker.

'Hello, campus surgery, how may I help?'

Hannah paused. She looked up into the safe place that was Chloe's eyes which encouraged her to continue.

'Can I make an appointment to see a doctor please?'

'Do you need an emergency appointment or a routine one?'

'Routine please.' She heard her voice shaking and hoped that it would be masked through the phone line.

'Ok, I have some available on Friday afternoon if that's ok?'

'Yeah, sure.'

Hannah chose a time and gave over her details. As soon as she hung up, she felt Chloe's hands squeeze her own.

'I'm proud of you.' And there was nothing in her voice which indicated anything but sincerity.

* * *

Beca trailed her fingers across the spines of the CDs lining her shelf. She settled on one of her old mixes she hadn't listened to in a while and pulled it out of the neat stack. She sat down at her desk, pressed the eject button on the side of her laptop and the CD drive popped out. She opened up the CD and barely noticed the piece of paper fall onto her keyboard. She put the CD into the drive and closed it before unfurling the note.

'Remember to give me a sneak preview before you show anyone else. xx'

She froze. Suddenly she was back to where she was before she had left. Her mind was racing but stuck on the same thoughts over and over. She couldn't move. She was completely paralysed. And that was how Carrie found her 20 minutes later.

* * *

 **=] I promise that the next chapter will explain (a little bit) about Beca's problems...**

 **Please review, it makes me feel happy inside =]**


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